Delhi’s waste problem: How two environmentally-conscious children are trying to tackle it

News Source : Indrani Bose | Updated: February 10, 2019 7:18 AM

The environmentally-conscious brothers, however, didn’t just stop there. Moved by the Ghazipur landfill crisis, they decided to visit the site to gauge the seriousness of the situation.

It all started in September 2017 when east Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill collapsed because of heavy rain, causing the death of two people. Fourteen-year-old Vihaan Agarwal, who has asthmatic tendencies, remembers feeling very perturbed with the news. “I realised that there is a huge trash problem in India,” says the Delhi-based student, adding, “I did some research and found that around 30% of Delhi’s air pollution is directly contributed by waste.”

This fact, coupled with his health issues, made the teenager realise the importance of responsible waste disposal. He teamed up with his younger brother, 11-year-old Nav, and together they decided to start from home. “We didn’t want our home to produce any trash that would impact the environment in a negative way, so we started segregating it and would then get it recycled,” says Vihaan, adding that they even spoke to their neighbours about the issue, urging them to join in as well.

The environmentally-conscious brothers, however, didn’t just stop there. Moved by the Ghazipur landfill crisis, they decided to visit the site to gauge the seriousness of the situation. What they found there was tonnes and tonnes of waste, finding it difficult to breathe in the area because of the high pollution. One visit led to another and, after many months of studying and observing the landfill, they realised that what the city needed was an urgent sustainable breakthrough to manage its colossal waste problem. They shared their findings with like-minded people—fellow students, colony residents, etc—and started getting them onboard their cause through WhatsApp groups.